Securing the Environment: UESD’s Dream Come True

The Background:                   

Once upon a time, Ghana was well endowed with natural resources, ranging from coastal flat plains through mountains to evergreen forests and savannahs. These varied geographic settings have brought both opportunities and challenges for natural resources management and development.

Addressing the issues on the environment remains one of the main problems of the country with the increasing environmental degradation. Issues such deforestation, soil erosion, pollution, and loss of biodiversity call for prompt attention and the need for specialised institution to address these challenges through education and research. In Ghana, the change in forest cover reveals that between 1990 and 2000, the country lost an average of 135,400 hectares of forest per year, the amount to an average annual deforestation rate of 1.82%. Additionally, between 1990 and 2005, Ghana lost 25.9% of its forest cover of around 1,931,000 hectares (Ghana Environmental profile). It is estimated that the consequences of current environmental degradation result in about ten percent (10%), annual reduction in the potential economic growth (GDP) of Ghana. Deforestation and health costs related to environmental pollution (sanitation, indoor air pollution) are major contributing factors. 

The well-being of a nation thrives on efficient and sustainable management of natural resources. However, climate change and its impacts on various sectors cause havoc to the environment which feeds into an attempt to achieve United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To address and alleviate local and global challenges, there is often a need for informed and effective environmental policies involving the local communities in sustainable development initiatives.

There was therefore the need to establish a University focused on environmental studies that can contribute to policy development by producing research, experts, and professionals who understand the complexities of sustainable development. A specialized University to provide education and research in areas such as sustainable agriculture, water resource management, and renewable energy, contributing to better resource stewardship.

It is incumbent on the nation to train a new generation of professionals with the skills and knowledge to tackle issues related to the environment and sustainability. It was therefore imperative to establish a University dedicated to environmental and sustainable development that can collaborate with other institutions, organizations, and researchers globally, fostering a more comprehensive approach to addressing environmental issues that confront the nation. Hence, the birth of University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD).

The Conception of UESD

UESD was conceived on the 17^th of April, 2013 when a national taskforce was inaugurated, that led to the establishment of a public university to be situated in the Yilo Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region of Ghana, West Africa. The aim was to provide higher education that will contribute to address the critical environmental and sustainable development challenges of the country and the world at large.

In 2015, the University of Environment and Sustainable Development Act, 2015 (Act 898) was passed by Parliament to set up a public university to be sited at Somanya in the Eastern of Ghana. The aims of the University are to provide higher education, disseminate knowledge related to development in environment and agrobusiness education, undertake research and foster relationships with persons outside the institution’. 

Vision: To be a Centre of excellence in knowledge gathering and dissemination in the area of environment for public good.

Mission: To produce graduates who are equipped with relevant knowledge and skills to be agents of change in environment and sustainable development.

Our Core Values:

• H – Honesty
• O – Opportunity
• P – Perseverance
• E – Enterprising

The idea behind the UESD core values which has been acronymised HOPE (Honesty, Opportunity, Perseverance, and Enterprising), was to give hope to the next generation.

These four (4) cores values were translated into a HOPE Roadshow to inculcate these values in the staff and students, such that, as an institution, our culture or way of life will be measured against the HOPE core values.  Every UESD staff and student should exude hope.

The Birth of UESD

The UESD is a multi-campus with the main campus situated in Somanya and a satellite campus to be sited at Donkorkrom, in the Afram Plains, both in the Eastern Region.

In April 2020, three persons were appointed as key officers to start work at the University: Prof. Eric Nyarko-Sampson, as Vice-Chancellor; Mrs Mary Abena Agyepong, as Registrar and Mr. Baffour Awuah Kwabi, as Director of Finance.  

On 6th May, 2020, an interim Council was sworn in at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences with Prof. Jonathan Narh Ayertey as Chairman.

The University was commissioned on 5th August, 2020 by the President of Ghana, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo.

The UESD Journey

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nyarko-Sampson recounts the journey of UESD which started its operation in June 2020 at the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC)building, (then the National Commission on Tertiary Education (NCTE)). Not despising the humble beginnings, the team accepted an office space where they temporarily work after their official appointment. Two (2) staff members and four (4) interns from GTEC were designated to assist the three-member team. Before the team moved to the Somanya campus, they used to pick application letters from the Somanya Post Office to their office at GTEC where both the Vice-Chancellor and the Registrar practically participated in sorting these letters and packing them into boxes. The team began work on Somanya campus on 29th September, 2020.

On the campus the Vice-Chancellor had his hopes dimmed on seeing the over-grown weeds that set out the campus as one in a secluded place. He questioned his own decisions; he asked himself why he had made such decision of accepting to become the Vice-Chancellor of an isolated place that looked empty and bushy, as compared to his previous University, a reputable institution which has been in existence for sixty years, with all the facilities and resources.

Now, the reality began to hit him as he pondered over questions such as: “Whom to go to?” “What to do?’ “Who are those he would work with?” To encourage his two other colleagues, he assured them with the words “UESD will succeed,” what has become his words in all addresses at university functions.

Staff Recruitment

In September 2020, the Ministry of Finance granted financial clearance to UESD to employ three hundred (300) staff members of all categories and this coincided with advertisement for admission of students. More than twenty-two thousand (22,000) applications for employment were received. Interview panels/committees drawn from academia and industry were constituted leading to the employment of three hundred (300) staff members for the first phase.

Prof. Nyarko-Sampson perceives the recruitment period as one of his significant moments in setting up the UESD campus.

Student enrolment

The success story began to unfold as the University started receiving its first batch of prospective students’ application. One hundred and forty (140) applications, facilitated by GTEC (then NCTE) the advertisement by UESD in the national dailies (Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times Newspapers) for admission into eleven undergraduate programmes for the 2020/21 academic year were received. In all seventy-eight (78) qualified and the first batch of students were formally received eleven (11) programmes at the maiden Matriculation held in February 2021.

1.BSc. Biological and Mathematical Sciences

2. BSc. Chemistry and Biological Sciences

3. BSc. Chemistry and Mathematical Sciences

5. BSc. Chemistry and Physics

6. BSc. Environment and Public Health

7. BSc. Environmental and Sustainability Science

8.  BSc. Geography and Earth Science

10. BSc. Biological and Mathematical Sciences

11. BSc. Water Resources Development

Commencement Lecture

One significant vision of the University Council was to institute a Commencement Lecture to herald the beginning of an academic year. The objective is to select topics that address the mandate of the University, including environment, sustainable development, among other topics, and experts in those fields are invited to espouse such topics. At the First Commencement Lecture, Professor Alfred Oteng-Yeboah of the University of Ghana, Legon, spoke on:  The theme was ‘Securing the Environment-our Challenge. The subsequent ones were on Water in the 2021/22 academic year. The theme was ‘Securing the Environment-The Role of the University in mitigating climate change delivered by the Hon Dr. Kwabena Kokofuof EPA and Waste Management in the 2022/223 academic year. The theme was: Securing the Environment-Our Water, Our Future, delivered by Rev. Dr. Ing. Anthony Appiah Duah, formerly of WRRI, CSIR.

Matriculation

The first batch of students started reporting to campus on Friday, February, 2021 during the mask wear era, COVID-19. The pioneer students were taken through a week’s orientation and this was climaxed by a tea party at the Vice-Chancellor’s lodge. It was followed by a moh333 night, (welcome party) at the University hostel. The students were formally sworn in as Junior members of the University on 26^th February, 2021, comprising 46 males and 27 females were admitted into the School of Sustainable Development (SNES) and the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences (SNES).

Pioneer students taking their Matriculation oath

They swore the Matriculation Oath administered by the Registrar, Mrs Mary Abena Agyepong. In addition to the Matriculation Oath, the freshers were made to recite the UESD Honour Code and the core values of the University: Honesty, Opportunity, Perseverance, and Enterprising (HOPE). The 2^nd and 3rd batches of students were Matriulated on the 3^rd March, 2022 and 24^th February, 2023

UESD Engagement with Stakeholders

The University over the past three (3) years has established partnerships with industry and research institutions by signing about forty (40) Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with its internal and external partners. It has built a good working co-existence with its communities.

The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nyarko-Sampson and his team have worked closely with chiefs and other opinion leaders as well as churches, farmer groups, radio stations, CSOs and, NGOs. The University taps their expertise by inviting them to seminars and workshops to serve as resource persons. The Vice-Chancellor, accompanied by some Deans and Heads of Departments/Units and visited some Senior Schools in the Municipality to explain the programme of the University to them. Other staff members also participated in Education Fairs organised by schools in and around Somanya enclave.

CoBEl

UESD has made its presence felt in the communities surrounding the University through its Community-Based Experiential Learning (CoBEL) programme, where students at Level 200 embark on community engagement to live with the people and profile the communities for five (5) weeks.

Despite the challenges associated with a young university like ours, UESD is on its way to achieving its objectives. This is because, in our three-year-old journey, we have gained accreditation to run twenty (20) academic programmes, a significant increase in the initial number of eleven (11). See list of programmes below:

1. BSc. Sustainable Development

2. BSc. Environment and Public Health

3. BSc. Environmental and Sustainability Science

4. BSc. Geography and Earth Sciences

5. BSc. Energy and Resource Economics

6. BSc. Water Resources Development

7. BSc. Energy Sustainability

8. BSc. Chemistry and Biological Sciences

9. BSc. Mathematics

10. BSc. Biological and Mathematical Sciences

11. BSc. Environmental Economics and Policy

12. BSc. Aquaculture Management

13. BSc. Water Resources Management

14. BSc. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

15. BSc. Environmental Management

16. BSc. Nature Conservation Management

17. BSc. Chemistry and Physics

18. BSc. Urban Planning and Development

19. BSc. Physics and Mathematical Sciences

20. BSc. Chemistry and Mathematical Sciences

ACHIEVEMENTS

This transformative journey has witnessed the establishment of a state-of-the-art research auditorium, books, and cutting-edge laboratories, equipped with the latest technologies. Also, the University has gained visibility considerably and was ranked 20^th out of eight (88) universities in the 2023 webometrics in terms of impact.

In academia: Two (2) teams of the University’s Lecturers, Dr. Sam-Quarcoo Dotse and Dr. Lloyd Larbi, both of the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences (SNES) were among twenty-six (26) recipients of the Jospong Group of Companies Africa Environmental Sanitation (AfES) Fund Awards held on 4^th March, 2022. Dr. Larbi’s research topic “Implementation of Sustainable Waste Segregation and Recycling Programme in Educational Institutions in the Krobo Municipalities of Ghana” will boost UESD’s Community Engagement.

Again, three (3) Lecturers from the School of Sustainable Development (SSD) are the winners of the Korea Safety, Health and Environment Foundation’s Global Seed Grant 2023. The three, who are members of the Smart Environmental Networks Africa (SENA) are; Dr. Kwaku Adu, Department of Applied Economics, Dr Eunice Stella Nyarko and Dr. Kwame B. Bour, both from the Department of Built Environment School of the School of Sustainable Development (SSD) were chosen among twenty-six (26) teams from fifteen (15) countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.  Further, the University was adjudged the ‘Public University of the Year 2022/2023’ in Ghana at the Ghana Education Awards by the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS).

The University has made significant progress with initial intake of more than seventy students for the 2021/2022 academic year to One Hundred and Twenty-Nine (129) for the 2022/2023 academic year to Three Hundred and Forty-Four (344) for the 2023/2024 academic year. The student population stands at Six Hundred and Fourteen (614) at the end of December, 2023

Looking Ahead

As the years go by, the University of Environment and Sustainable Development will continue to grow with more success stories.

UESD IS SUCCEEDING!

Co-authors:                  Ms. Barbara Mary Yakubu (Head, University Relations)

                                      Dr. Mrs. Felicia Annin (Ag. Head, RICU)                          

Acknowledgments:      Prof. Eric Nyarko-Sampson (Vice-Chancellor)

                                       Prof. Edward Wiafe Debrah (Ag. Pro-Vice-Chancellor)

                                       Mrs Mary Abena Agyepong (Registrar)

                                       Mrs Rose Nandara Fanu (Head, Human Resource Division)   

References:    

• Ghana Environmental Profile (2010)-World Bank
• The Economic Costs of Environmental Degradation in Ghana (2017)-African Development Bank
• Ghana’s Environmental Challenges and Economic Growth (2019)-Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy